Eat, Sip and Paint. Fun With Art

I want to say first that this is not a sponsored post. I’m writing this because I’ve had the joy of attending several casual or social painting classes and I want to share that joy with you.

Social painting is a relatively new phenomenon. It is a one night event that is tailored towards people who don’t paint and want to do something different for a night out. I’ve been to some with friends and some on dates with my husband. The one I’m writing about, happened on Feb 2 in St. Thomas, Ontario. Hosted by The Art Gallery of Lambeth (I’ve had work in their gallery, fantastic place) and Ann-Marie Cheung, a local artist. This night was held in a restaurant in St. Thomas.

Here’s Ann-Marie getting ready to show us the ropes. She’s an accomplished artist and worth checking out.

It was a date night for me. I drag my husband out to these things. We met at art school way, way back, and while I paint, he doesn’t. Not anymore. Kids. Life. Tons of stuff got in the way. I think it’s so important not to lose creativity and the rush that comes from putting paint to canvas. It’s even more freeing when there are zero expectations.

Not my paint. Not my canvas. Not even my subject matter. So fucking freeing. And sometimes I just want to paint without pressure or plans. This is a vacation for me. LOL

These events include both seeing the final painting and watching the artist, in this case Ann-Marie, paint live. We move at a pace that’s comfortable for people who haven’t done this before. There’s lots of time for questions and tons of time to laugh. Everyone has fun.

Each step allows the guests to add their own touches. Pete (my husband) and I end up competing a bit. Doing very different styles and mocking each other’s work. We might be slightly distracting, but always with a smile.

Aside from the instructor, there’s usually a support artist along to help out anyone with questions.

Really, if you’ve ever wanted to paint but didn’t know where to start, this is the event for you.

You can see above that two people who paint with the same steps can still end up with very different beasts. My painting is the one without the hand in the photo.

In these classes, there’s time for questions. Time to chat. Time for a pint of beer or glass of wine. It’s very relaxed.

Following the steps is fun. Actually participating in bringing a painting to life is so much more rewarding than just reading about the steps.

Here’s another shot of the set up.

Pete’s normal bird painting. The branch and snow are really interesting and well done. And normal.

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I don’t do normal. At all. Apparently. Ever. Ha.

So what’s next? I’ve got Toronto ComicCon to prep for. I’ve got a couple of painting commissions to get done. And between all that? I’m PAINTING!